Dancing for the Lord The Academy - By Emily Goodman Page 0,7
be going to the Academy. The fewer classes they had to worry about then, the less time they would have to take away from their dancing.
Then she had been accepted. That was the thing that Danni still didn’t believe—the thing that she probably wouldn’t believe until she was actually in her first dance class, in the familiar black leotard and pink tights, her pointe shoes on her feet.
And maybe not even then.
Thoughts of Michael, however, took her mind and her prayers in a completely different direction.
Lord…You alone know how much I’m going to miss Michael this next year. I know it’s probably Your plan that we be apart, but I’m not sure I know how to do anything without him. He’s been my best friend and my partner for so long; and out here, since I’m not coming with my partner, it might be a long time before I get to dance with anybody. Only the best girls will be given partners. They probably won’t even let me in partners class until senior year! Oddly, that thought, at least, was comforting. Danni wouldn’t have any idea what to do in a partners class without Michael; and on top of that, she would be missing him fiercely. At least if it was senior year before she got put in one, she would be able to wait for him.
On the other hand, dancing with a partner was one of her favorite things about ballet. She loved the way the music wrapped around them, carrying them through one phase of the dance and then another until they were so completely wrapped up in it and one another that it was impossible to tell which of them was leading and which was following.
God…it’s going to be hard, going without a partner. You know that given a choice, I would much rather dance a pas de deux than dance a solo. But You brought me here without Michael for a reason; and I trust You, God. Just…don’t let me be alone here, okay? Let me find a friend, someone who loves dance as much as I do…and let me find someone who loves You as much as I do. That was going to be one of the hardest things about her new world, Danni had no doubt. Her family had raised her to be a true Christian, her beliefs deeply enmeshed in her life. The world that she was entering now…well, saying that it wasn’t conducive to Christianity was a nice way of putting a deep-set fear.
Let me find someone to come alongside me, Lord, Danni prayed desperately, and knew that her God heard her plea. Let me find someone who understands what I do: that if the dance isn’t for You, it isn’t worth dancing.
Peace filled her. Everything would be all right, one way or the other. Danni wasn’t sure how she knew it; but as that peace flowed over her, she knew that everything that was happening was according to God’s plan. He had brought her here; He would take care of the rest of it, too. All she had to do was exactly as she had always done: dance, and give the rest to Him. As long as she gave Him everything she had, He would do his best for her in return. She would have the life God desired for her. She just had to trust.
Amazing, how fast the fear disappeared when she was willing to step out in faith. Amazing how different it was between one breath and the next, as though God had literally come to stand between her and that fear.
Danni smiled. He wouldn’t have taken away that fear if there were any reason for it to remain.
For several miles, she simply allowed her thoughts to flow where they would—one moment considering what was ahead of her, the next, remembering everything she had left behind. Lost in her own thoughts, she didn’t notice much of what was going on around her; but eventually, her father’s frequent glances in her direction became too obvious to ignore.
“What?” she demanded.
He looked surprised. “I’m not allowed to look at my daughter?” he teased.
“Of course you are.” She made a face at him. “Looking at me, sure. But looking at me like I’m about to start dancing in the middle of the truck or something…that, I’m not so sure about.”
“I’m not looking at you strangely!” he protested. “Just…looking. It might be awhile before I see you again, Danni-girl.”